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zimmi88's Psychonauts (XBX)
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| [January 15, 2008 02:20:21 AM]
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WARNING! This entry contains spoilers. I try to be careful not to spoil many plot points in my entries, but I am fairly lenient when sharing level, gameplay, and character information. Long story short, if you haven't played a good portion of the game, this entry may spoil some of the game. Read at your own risk.
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GAMEPLAY
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First, let me get out of the way that the game has gotten much better since the last time I played. I feel I have gotten a good handle on the controls, though there are still an instance or two where the controller can be a little too sensitive. Also, the game's pacing has improved greatly since the Captain Oleander's Basic Braining level.
I think the one comment I have that's most important is, so far, the game hasn't lost my interest. My character keeps learning new skills that make it easier to complete tasks in interesting ways, and the levels are ingenious in design. Sprinkled with fantastic humor, the game is a delight to play. So far, my favorite level is Lungfishopolis. Following the adage "It's more scared of you than you are of it," Lungfishopolis takes place in the mind of a giant fish monster, where Raz (you) become a giant-sized monster in a level reminiscent of the Monster Movies of old. The opening cinematic to this level is downright hilarious, seeing Raz as a giant monster reacting in surprise.
It's also been interesting seeing the story unfold as I have been playing, starting with the initial discovery that things just aren't right, all the way to the ultimate discovery of what's actually going on. I'm not going to spoil anything here, but I'll just say that the discovery process is interesting, as the unique style of the game lends to an untraditional discovery process. Even beyond the discovery of the story is the discovery of Raz's character and past. As Raz learns new abilities and unlocks new levels, we learn about what led Raz to come to the summer camp, as well as his fear of water.
Overall, this game is simply addicting to play. I know I was supposed to play 45 minutes of the game for this log, but it turns out I got so engrossed in the gameplay that I ended up playing for much longer than that. I was just so interested in the plot and seeing what level or skill lied ahead that I just wanted to keep going.
DESIGN
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The most important part of this game is innovative design. The concept of entering the minds of a variety of characters opens the typical limits of the level designer to create these inner worlds that are simply quirky and interesting. Thanks to this, you get to play a variety of levels, from a war-ridden battlefield, to a disco party, to a Monster Movie in the mind of a fish. Yes, reread that. A fish. It’s out-of-the-box thinking like that that makes Psychonauts fun to play. In fact, it’s wondering what creative level is up ahead that is one of the main reasons to keep playing.
Even beyond the creativity the levels exhibit, Psychonauts provided a lot of entertainment in its presentation and tone. The game never really takes itself too seriously, providing many quirky moments in its cutscenes, scenarios, and even in the interactivity with objects when roaming around camp. Raz can interact with many objects around camp, and many of these interactions provide humorous quips from Raz. The player is not only encouraged to discover the outer reaches of camp, but receives rewards for doing so in the form of Psi-Cards, which, when enough are collected, allow Raz to learn new abilities.
Finally, a lot of credit should be given for the narrative control exhibited in Psychonauts. As you play through the various levels of the game, you don’t take a backseat to the narrative in the story. Instead, you actively discover the story’s twists while adventuring through the various levels. Also, the same goes for Raz’s characterization. The player discovers Raz’s past as he’s forced to confront the thoughts and fears in his mind and around camp.
If there’s one thing that the game could have used, it would be a little more polish on some of the gameplay mechanics. Loading takes a ridiculous amount of time, the controls could be a little less sensitive, the lock-on feature is unpredictable, and the graphics engine could use a boost. Yet, it’s important to keep in mind these are minor quips that are greatly outweighed by the great design exhibited in Psychonauts.
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| [January 13, 2008 11:41:03 PM]
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This entry is spoiler-free.
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SUMMARY
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Psychonauts (Majesco/Double Fine - 2005 - PS2) is an adventure platformer by Creative Director Tim Schafer. The player plays as Raz, a psychonaut-in-training at a psychic summer camp. Through the game, Raz enters the minds of a variety of characters, which act as the various platforming levels in the game, all the while learning new psychic abilities that he can use.
GAMEPLAY
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Going into the game, I had high hopes that I was going to have a great time playing Psychonauts. After all, I had read reviews on the internet calling it an innovative game featuring great humor. Also, I knew that the game had received an award at the Game Developer's Conference (GDC) - a high honor indeed! Finally, there was the persistence of my peers, who have all told me Psychonauts is absolutely fun to play. Needless to say, I was excited to put the game in and get going.
So far, from what I have played, I have to say that the game is pretty good, but not great. The opening cutscene, where Raz "crashes" the campfire gathering, was a pretty funny and quirky way to start the game. I find a lot of humor, though, in the environment and incidental dialog. For instance, there's one segment in Coach Oleander's Obstacle Course where you have to hang from a ledge to cross a bottomless pit. As Raz is crossing, he encounters the Coach's projection against a wall and the two have an exchange where Coach Oleander calls Raz "Slowey Joey." Raz replies "But that's not my name!" It's moments like these that I find absolutely clever and are a delight to come across.
Humor aside, however, I feel the game is dragging slightly. Just to clarify for those that may have played the game, the farthest I've gotten so far is through Basic Braining, or Coach Oleander's Obstacle Course. Yes, I know it is a tutorial level, which are notorious for being unentertaining. But they could have made the level a tad more bearable by speeding up the pacing here. The tutorial information was spread too sparsely through the course, leading to a long level. It wasn't horrible, but it was slow.
On the other hand, it might have been good to have such a long level initially where you don't die from minor error, because there is a bit of a learning curve to the controls. The controls make sense, but are quite sensitive. It takes a little while to get down the timing of jumps down, as well as Raz's running speed. Some sections require delicate control of Raz, which becomes tedious because Raz tends to run so fast it becomes hard to control him.
But these are minor quips about the game - I'm probably feeling nit-picky right now. Overall, I've enjoyed what I've played of Psychonauts so far. Though the first level is slow, playing through Coach Oleander's war-ridden level is interesting nonetheless. The humor is great, and it's refreshing to see a game these days that seeks to be unique in style and creativity. I think the ultimate comment comes from the fact that I can't wait to go back and keep playing, to see what adventures and minds lay in store for Raz.
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zimmi88's Psychonauts (XBX)
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Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Saturday 12 January, 2008
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